Helping Destiny
by carpetinflight
Summary: Ginny stumbles across something unusual in a shop in Knockturn Alley and must seek help to dispatch it. HarryxGinny.


Ginny wrapped her cloak tightly around herself, scant protection from the cold wind whipping through Knockturn Alley. The potions shop was around here somewhere. Just down this street, or around that corner... She wasn't sure, but it was close.

She hurried down the street, fingering a worn spot on the edge of her cloak. She kept her head bowed against the wind, and her hair tucked up underneath her hood. She didn't want to be recognized, and Weasley red was too distinctive a color to risk it being shown.

Suddenly, the street seemed to warm slightly. Ginny slowed, then paused in front of a large shop window, enjoying the suddenly-bearable temperature. It almost seemed as though there were warming charms on the sidewalk. But why--

The shop window caught her eye then. Old books, elegant furniture, and the dull gleam of antique gold could be seen inside. Without thinking about it, without knowing why, she found herself opening the door and stepping inside the shop. In the front of the shop near the window was an ornate golden necklace, studded with sapphires and draped over a soft black cloth.

The money she had with her was the Order's, for potion supplies. Not for antique jewelry. She knew it well, and she reminded herself of it again, but it was hard to remember. The gold gleamed with a rich light that showed its age, and the stones reflected a dusky blue, but when she ran her fingers over the stone, a sound reached her hears, a dull roaring combined with a susurrating whisper. It was a sound she'd heard before, a sound that had haunted her dreams for years. Floods of ink and chicken blood clouded her vision for a moment, until she pulled her hand back as though she'd been burned, the numbing attraction of the shop broken.

She turned over the price tag, and quickly dropped it. Even the Order's money, which they could scarce afford to lose, wasn't enough for half the price of the necklace.

Trying to look casual, she turned away and browsed through the rest of the store. While her face was turned toward shrunken heads and wax curse-dolls, her mind spun through the options.

This had to be what Hermione had told her about in those quick whispers over the summer -- a piece of You-Know-Who's soul, trapped inside an object of significance. It must be. And if it was, there was only one thing to do.

Back in her room at the Burrow, surrounded by the frilly pinks and whites she'd loved when she was eight, Ginny rummaged through her sock drawer until she found what she was looking for: a shiny golden Galleon.

"Use the coins from the DA," Hermione'd whispered, her voice barely audible beneath the music of Bill and Fleur's first dance. "That's the best way to reach us if something happens."

And here it was. Ginny held the coin in the palm of her hand and concentrated on a message. _Found something important._ That was it. Simple, concise. There was no need for names: the coins had been reset so that the messages only went out to the four of them. "You'll have to be our eyes and ears," Hermione had said.

When the message was sent, Ginny felt the coin in her hand grow warm and then cool again. Around the edge, her words were now inscribed in raised lettering. Smiling, she dropped it in her pocket. She didn't know how they'd reach her, or when. She only hoped they'd gotten the message. And she couldn't help the shiver that ran down her spine at the thought that she would see Harry soon.

It was the next night, twenty-nine and a half hours later although she wasn't counting, that Ginny heard the rattling sound outside her window. It sounded like hail against the old house, but somehow more so. She threw back the covers and ran to the window, only realizing later that the sound could easily have signaled something sinister.

Just outside her window was Harry, hovering silently on his broomstick.

Ginny grinned, and he grinned back, and in less than a minute, she was dressed and climbing out the window onto the back of his broomstick, clutching him tightly and whispering in his ear. Out over the forest, near the border of the Lovegoods' property, Ron and Hermione joined them on Ron's broom, waving hello.

They flew for hours through the cold night. Ginny rested her cheek against Harry's shoulder, warm and solid in the midst of the racing wind. She could hear his heart beating loudly in his chest; closing her eyes, she let the sound wash over her. Tears leaked from the side of her eyes and sped across her cheeks, soaking into her hair. It was the wind, she told herself, just the wind.

When they landed carefully on a crooked, cobblestoned street, Ginny's legs were cramped and her entire body felt frozen, but she could hardly bring herself to let go. She remembered the sound of his voice as they'd sat before Dumbledore's white tomb. _There are things I need to do by myself now,_ he'd said. It was true, she knew. There were more important things than teenage romance, and this was Harry's destiny.

Destiny could take over again tomorrow, but tonight, Harry needed her help. Ginny took a deep breath and let it out again, then she reached out and took his hand. His skin was cold and smooth, and their hands fit together just the way she remembered.

She thought he might pull away from her, but instead she felt a quick squeeze. Smiling at the cobblestones, she led him along the edge of the darkened street toward the shaded window that concealed the necklace.

Buildings loomed close together over their heads, leaning on each other as if for support, and revealing only a small slice of the night sky above. Twisted trees adorned the sidewalks, and scraps of rubbish drifted by. Doorways and windows were dark around them, but Ginny felt her scalp tingle as though someone was watching.

She glanced over her shoulder and saw the others. Hermione crept along quietly, and Ron took up the rear, his face watchful and his wand out. Right behind her was Harry. In the low light, she could just see a glint in his dark eyes, and a shiver ran down her back.

When they got close, she stopped and looked in the window. She could just see the necklace glittering faintly in its display against the side wall. Her skin tingled where she'd touched it, but she didn't know if it was residual magic or her own memory of the way the evil in the thing had called to her.

"Is that it?" asked Ron quietly. She nodded.

Hermione looked grimly at the door, then cast a detecting spell. Several pale shapes floated up out of the wood frame, and she examined them closely before stepping back with a grim smile. She looked at Ron and nodded.

Ron stepped forward and applied his wand -- no, not his wand, a long piece of metal, a Muggle tool -- to the door's hinges. Hermione looked at Ginny with the same tight smile on her face. "Security flaw," she said. "The spells only detect magic. Just take the door off the hinges and you'll avoid the alarms."

They waited and watched until Ron was done, and then he lifted the door away and leaned it against the side of the building.

They stepped inside the shop quietly, although no one was around to hear. Ginny stopped next to the necklace, which seemed to shine even in the low light, and wrapped her arms around herself.

Harry moved away from her and held out his hand to Ron, palm-up. Silently, Ron placed the metal thing in Harry's hand. Harry looked the necklace over, and Ginny watched his profile. His hair hung in his eyes a little, and he bit his lip in concentration. After a few moments he nodded to himself.

"The stone," he whispered, breaking the silence in the shop. "Just like the ring."

Gripping the handle of the Muggle tool tightly, he brought the sharpened end down on the glittering blue stone. With a loud crack, the jewel split across the middle. A pale silver smoke shot out of the fissure like steam from a kettle, and the soft whisper Ginny had heard when she first touched the necklace filled the shop. The smoke drifted and swirled near the ceiling as the hissing whisper grew fainter and fainter. When the sound stopped, the smoke curled itself around into the shape of a snake, and its forked tongue flicked out twice. A swift gust of wind rose up out of the still shop, and the cloud dissipated and blew out of the door in ragged clumps.

Ginny let out a shaky breath. Behind her Ron said, "Let's get out of here," in a shaky voice. Hermione nodded, her bushy hair quivering, and they moved out the door and down the street.

The night was still cold, but the faint light of the stars seemed to shine benevolently now, and the leaning houses and gnarled trees looked only old, instead of sinister.

As she and Harry mounted his broom for the ride back to the Burrow, she turned and pressed her lips against his, lingering there a moment. Harry pulled back from the kiss and leaned his forehead against hers, his green eyes shining and the warmth of his body comforting in the cold air.

This was the last time she'd see him for months. But she _would_ see him again, after destiny'd had its way. She knew it now. And by finding the necklace quivering with dark magic, she might've even helped bring that day closer. It couldn't come soon enough.


End file.
